Hall Laurie J Trustee Buys 1,900 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hall Laurie J Trustee grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.5% of Hall Laurie J Trustee’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Hall Laurie J Trustee’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. GenWealth Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. now owns 10,547 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,031,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 81,339 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Unique Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 17,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $560,388,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.53.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $171.48 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $181.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.66. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.35 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.